Digital Scrapbooking GiRLs

Learning to Adjust Document Size in Photoshop

This tutorial was created when I came across a Shutterfly-ready quick page freebie. In the Shutterfly world, a “12×12″ layout, is actually printed at 11.95″ inches at 300 dpi, or 3585 pixels. You could easily take the quick page and have it printed at your usual digital printer, and IF they are dilligent, chances are, they will output your file at 12×12″. However; that is not always the case, so to avoid any problems, it’s always best to prepare your files to print at 100%.

Here is how to adjust document size in Photoshop (CS3).

• Open your document in Photoshop, and save it under a unique project name.
• Go to Image > Image Size

• An Image Size window will pop up, and in it you will see the pixel dimensions, and document size. See how in this example, the pixel dimensions are 3585 pixels, and the document is sized to 11.95 x 11.95 inches at 300 dpi.

• Uncheck the “Resample Image” box

The Image Size dialogue box should now look like this, with the “Resample Image” unchecked, and all three variables in the “Document Size” area linked.

• Change the document dimensions — width or height variable — to 12″. You will see that the other dimension has adjusted accordingly, and the “resolution” has dropped to 298.75.

• Click the [OK] button.

That’s all there is to it. Now when your document is printed at 100%, it will be printed at 12.0 x 12.0 inches. Don’t worry, the slightly lower resolution is still fine.

Happy Digi-Scrapping!
Digital Scrapbooking GiRLs

Published in: DigitalWorld, Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials
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Digital Scrapbooking Intro Tutorial :: Working with Digital Scrapbooking Quick Pages

Level: Absolute Beginner

The following tutorial will provide step-by-step instructions for creating a digital scrapbook page using a “Quick Page”. A “Quick Page” (QP) is a digital scrapbooking layout that is already completed for you, leaving you to add a photo and journaling. This digital scrapbooking tutorial will take you through all the steps of working with quick pages, from opening up the digital file in Adobe Photoshop and adding your photo, to printing and archiving your work.

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Digital Scrapbooking Supplies Required for Tutorial:

In order to follow this digital scrapbooking tutorial, you will need the following:

– Photoshop CS3, or Photoshop Elements. If you’d like to take Photoshop for a test run, visit the Adobe site and download their trial version today.

– A digital scrapbooking “Quick Page” template, with all the elements in one flattened layer.

You can use a digital scrapbooking page of any size, a card, a bragbook page, or a computer desktop (wallpaper). The principal is the same for all of these files. To get a better look at the samples (From Shabby Miss Jenn), please click on the preview.

For this DigiScrapGiRL tutorial, I will be using a free Valentine’s Day card from seejanescrapbook.blogspot.com. This card is 4×6 inches — the size of a regular photo, so you can get it output whereever you get your digital photos printed.

This designer also offers other beautiful Quick pages and quick calendar pages, so check out her blog.

You can find free digital scrapbooking QPs, cards and desktops on our resources page: Free Digital Scrapbooking Layouts — where to get them or the latest edition of GiRL Friday: Weekly list of scrapbooking freebies.

 

– Your own digital photos.

For the layout that accompanies this tutorial, you will need one photograph with a landscape orientation. If you are using a different template, your photo requirements will vary based on that QP’s layout.

– 15 minutes to complete this tutorial.

– Cost: < $1

Create Your Scrapbooking Quick Page

The following instructions are for creating a digital scrapbooking layout using
a flattened Quick Page template in Photoshop. For this beginner level tutorial I chose a template that does not require you to rotate your photos. Please remember to save your files. That way, if you make a mistake, you can easily undo (edit > undo), or as a last resort, Revert (file > revert) to the last saved version.

*Please note that I will not be using shortcuts so that this tutorial is user friendly for Photoshop users of various versions, and on both platforms (Mac and PC).

(1) Open your Quick Page file. In Photoshop, go to File > Open; navigate to your file, then click the [OPEN] button

(2) Save the project Save the template under a new file name — so you can keep the original QP for other projects. In Photoshop, go to File > Save As; name your file; file format should be ‘photoshop’; then click the [SAVE] button

(3) Some basics about flattened QP templates Look at your layers palette (Open it in Window > Layers) Notice that each element in the template is placed in its own layer. It’s important to know that the layers are in order, much like in traditional scrapbooking. The background layer, should be the bottom layer, and that’s where your background paper goes. Photos and elements are then layered on top, with each element overlapping the next. An active layer will be highlighted. The ‘eye’ indicates layer visibility, turning the layer on an off.

(4) Open your photo. If necessary, adjust the photo exposure and fix red-eye first. Drag it onto the template. Alternately, you can copy and paste the photo into your template. In photo: Select>All; Edit>Copy; then in your Template: Edit>Paste Go to the layers palette, and click and drag your photograph layer so that it is positioned just about the template photo layer. If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save).

(5) Position your photo within the QP template If you need to resize* or rotate your photo to make it fit the template’s photo layer: Edit > Free Transform; A bounding box will appear around your photo, with a number of handle points. Click on the corner handle, and drag the handle to resize your photo — holding down the shift key as you transform keeps the changes proportional. Move the photo into position. If you are happy with the results, [Apply] the transformation. *NOTE: You cannot make the photo larger, you can only go down in size. If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). Now we are going to clip the excess. With the photograph as your active layer, create a clipping mask. Layer > Create clipping mask. You will notice that the photo parts outside of the template were clipped away. Merge the 2 layers: (Layers > Merge Down). At this point you could lock the layer, so that I can’t accidentally move it, or alter it. With the layer active, click on the LOCK ALL icon — the padlock. The padlock will now appear in the layer, indicating that it is locked. If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save).

(6) Add your title & journaling Once again, SAVE your file (File > Save).

Printing & Archiving your first digital scrapbook Quick Page

Congratulations on completing your first digital scrapbooking quick page! Now, wasn’t that easy?

What you should do now.

– If you have not already done so, SAVE your file (File > Save).

– MAKE a flattened copy of the file (.JPG) for printing. (Layer > Flatten image). Save this version as a JPG, and preferably using a different name - you can add a word like FINAL, FLAT or PRINT to the file name to indicate that this is the print version.

Note: If you are having this printed by a by a photo finishing service, check their print sizes. If your layout dimensions differ from their print dimensions, reopen the flattened file, and resize the canvas — this will ensure that the printer does not end up stretching your document to the canvas size.

Let’s pretend that your document is 12×12, but the print size will be 12×18…

Go to Image > Canvas Size; Under New Size, change the width or height attribute to 18″. Your document will remain unchanged, but placed on a larger, 12×18 canvas.

Now you are ready to get your file printed.

– SAVE a copy of the .PSD file to your archives folder. You want to keep the layers in case you need to make adjustments.

– If you wish, make a smaller/lower resolution version for sharing via email, on your blog, or in forums.

To resize: go to Image > Image Size; change the document size width or height to 8. If you checked the ‘Constrain Proportions’ box, the change will apply to both variables. A suitable resolution for print is 72 pixels/inch. Printing requires resolution of 200-300 pixels/inch.

Happy Digi-Scrapping!
Digital Scrapbooking GiRLs

Published in: DigitalWorld, Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials, Digital Scrapbooking
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